Rush for Gas Masks at Distribution Centers

IDF pleased with public alertness but concerned masks will run out soon.

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Gil Ronen, 28/08/13 12:09

Home Front call center

Arutz Sheva

Numerous citizens were standing in line to obtain gas masks Wednesday as media warned that a US attack on Syrian targets was imminent, and as Bashar al-Assad's regime warned that it would respond to such an attack by targeting Israel.

The IDF expressed satisfaction at the fact that so many citizens are finally getting masks, but was also concerned that the national stockpile of gas masks will soon be depleted.

Post offices, where the masks are distributed, and Home Front Command offices, were reportedly inundated with phone calls from citizens wishing to obtain masks.

MK Eli Yishai (Shas), who chairs a Knesset subcommittee on preparedness for emergency situations, convened the committee Wednesday. He warned that because of the Finance Ministry's decisions, Israeli factories for production of gas masks will close down in October of 2014. He said that the program for protecting Israel's home front in emergencies received absolutely no funding this year. In previous years, he said, it received only 200 million shekels annually, although it required 350 million to do its job properly.